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As well as running Green Directions, I am a member of the Sheffield City Region (UK) Low Carbon Sector Group. Together with partners, I am developing a major infra-structure proposal; FutureZone 20:50.

FutureZone 20:50 is a proposal for an innovation park, close to the Advanced Manufacturing Park www.attheamp.com/ , showcasing both a vision for living and working sustainably in the future and our region’s innovation and manufacturing excellence. It would include:

A vibrant interactive low carbon and innovation visitor attraction

a conference and exhibition centre

pavilions owned and run by companies highlighting their innovations and commitment to sustainability

a centre to showcase the outcomes of universities research and development programmes

a growth hub providing support for businesses to enter supply chains and capitalise on business opportunities ; for example, through the Catapult Centres

a low carbon retail zone

a low carbon transport hub including a cycle park

FutureZone 20:50 is about the future not the past. It is about inspiring and supporting sustainable growth for the economic and social benefit of people and communities.

My partners in the project are MMEK and Oliver Schutte. You might like to have a look at their websites to see examples of their inspiring work:

MMEK – a Dutch design company who have expertise in the creation of visitor attractions. http://mmek.nl/

Times are tough. Both parents have serious illnesses in a Birmingham hospital and I am visiting them 4 days a week from here in Sheffield.

My mum has had Alzheimers for some time now and has been looked after during this period by my father. Both are 83. My dad has had to do much of the nursing care for my mum as she has gradually lost functionality. He has been fantastic. He has developed his cooking skills and, prior to the hospital admissions, was confidently producing very good meals including traditional Sunday lunch. For him, anything less represented a decline in standards.

My mum used to become anxious if dad was absent from the house and as a result he rarely managed to pursue his own interests and activities such as going to concerts/theatre and playing golf.

Dad has also been the rock for my brother who was born with partial deafness and some learning disabilities. David lives independently and also has very good support from a good friend, Mick, but it is my dad who has been the key person in helping him to live something like a functional life.

In July this year, my mum developed a circulation problem in her right leg. While waiting for an investigative procedure the leg deteriorated and had to be amputated. She has been in hospital ever since though with her Alzheimers, she usually thinks she is somewhere else – on a train, on holiday etc.

While our family was in Toulouse in August, during our house exchange holiday, I received a phone call saying that dad had been taken into hospital. Within a week he had been discharged – they thought it was a bladder infection (in royal good company there).

I brought him home and stayed with him but it was soon apparent that all was not well. An ambulance took him back to hospital where they treated the symptoms of an infection but otherwise could not explain why he was still feeling ill.

At the point of him being discharged again, he suddenly declined badly and on September 13th was admitted to intensive care. By the time I reached the hospital that evening he was on a ventilator and had wires and tubes all over him. He had Pancreatitis and I was told that it was unlikely that he would survive.

But he did! A week later he was moved onto a ward where he remains. He is in a poor physical and mental condition, he is more confused than my mum at the moment, and is still in danger. At least he recognises me and is sometimes able to talk lucidly.

All of this means that I am visiting Wards 305 and 726 of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital 4 days per week and have taken over the management of my brother too. (Fortunately my father had the wisdom to set up powers of attorney for me with regard to both him, my mum and my brother to assist me if a situation like this arose – it has been a great help.)

Also of great help have been my family. Partner Sarah has a full time demanding career which now involves more jobs on our small-holding and more taxi runs with the children. The older children have been great too in both moral and practical support (notably Frankee looking after Arthur, our 6 year old). Lots of other help and support has come from friends such as Sam who has picked up Arthur from school on several occasions.

Under these circumstances it is a great source of upset for us to be put under pressure by an officer of Sheffield City Council’s Environmental Protection Service.

Earlier this year, after many installation problems, our 10 kilowatt Xzeres wind turbine finally started working. It has been producing electricity very well since but for some reason, in doing so, it is making more noise than other Xzeres turbines. This has induced a complaint from the couple who are our immediate neighbours.

Although the matter of noise nuisance is subjective and in this case our turbine’s noise is less than the traffic and other common machinery and wind noises, we agree that the issue should be resolved for everyone’s benefit.

To this end we have co-operated fully with the officer to get noise reduction action from Xzeres. Much success has been achieved, but further work is necessary. Action from Xzeres has not been as effective or timely as it should have been; however, an action plan is in place and the latest work will start on October 3rd and be finished in a few weeks. Despite this, the officer has told us to turn off the turbine. This will punish us for matters beyond our control at a time when we are already under duress.

In Short:

An action plan is in place to resolve the issue

The action plan was provided to the officer before he issued his ‘advice’ to shut down the turbine

We have been totally co-operative with the officer throughout the process

While the turbine makes more noise than it should, it is not as noisy as a car, lorry, tractor, chainsaw, strimmer etc., all of which are common sounds in this environment

There are two complainants in this case one of whom has a history of anti-social behaviour, all our other neighbours are supportive

We have had no complaints from any other members of the public

We receive a huge amount of interest in the positive impacts of our turbines and other renewable technologies and do a lot of work to disseminate this information as widely as possible to encourage others to take action on climate change

The turbine produces, and therefore saves, about 2000 kwh electricity per month and a CO2 saving of around 3 tonnes

The financial value to us of the turbine is around £600 – £1000 per month through electricity that has not had to be bought and Feed In Tariff (FIT) payments

In the week September 23rd to September 30th, 2012 the Xzeres turbine produced 644 kwh. The FIT payment for this is £188.69 and the electricity bill saving (@12p per kwh) is £77.28 – total benefit – £265.97

We are a family who have invested in excess of £100,000 and immense amounts of time to install renewable technologies for our benefit and for the benefit of the wider community.

The officer says that he has not taken the decision to shut down our turbine lightly and yet he has chosen to act at this precise time despite having received a plan to resolve the issues from the manufacturer, and having full knowledge of my parents’ illnesses with all its emotional and practical implications. He even telephoned me while I was in the intensive care unit of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

We are good citizens of this city. Our mission is to reduce our carbon footprint and by doing so to make a positive contribution. The carbon reduction plan has been running for several years and we are succeeding. We produce more electricity than we use (we are all electric) and through energy saving and generation we prevent around 35 tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere each year.

We are strongly of the view that the officer’s ‘advice’ is therefore ill-judged, inequitable and partial. Furthermore it is undermined by his unprofessional and insensitive behaviour.

I can’t imagine that the workload of the Environmental Protection Service officers is comfortable. Therefore, why has so much time be devoted to our turbine when

no one is resisting the call for the noise issue to be resolved

the positive aspects of the turbine outweigh the negative

the negative impacts are short term

there must be far more pressing issues confronting the Environmental Protection Service about which other citizens are desperate for intervention

The action of the officer is therefore not only inequitable and disproportionate, it is also a tremendous waste of public money.